A half-century-old Tokyo ramen restaurant

The cramped seating area isn’t exactly the comfiest, and the toilet facilities are positively archaic, but this old Tokyo ramen restaurant is pretty much perfect. Great food, decades of clutter and a genuine sense of warmth the moment one walks in.

I had the opportunity to work with a few professionals from Nippon some years ago. Their consistent focus on logic, order, punctuality, cleanliness and the like is so emblematic of their country.

So these smaller eating establishments in Nippon have always amazed me. For some reason they always seem to be a sort of antithesis to my understanding of the Nihonjin mentality. I don’t mean that in a negative sense; just an observation.

Walking around countless suburbs and seeing people’s homes in person and on TV, it’s always fascinating to see how cluttered and full of crap so many seem to be – both inside and outside. A stark contrast, like you say, to both the image, appearance and actions of many Japanese individuals. And as so many of these little bars and restaurants are basically an extension of the owner’s home, it perhaps helps explain their appearance. Although it in no way explains why so many homes are like this…